The Killings by Andre Dubus

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The Killings by Andre Dubus

Plot is defined as, "the authors arrangement of incidents in a story it is the organizing principle that controls the controls the order of events (Meyer,64)." The element of plot is heavily relied on in the short story, "The Killings" by Andre Dubus. The plot which is completely made inside the imagination of an author (Meyer,64), gives the audience important insight to people, places, and events in the story (Meyer,64) . "The Killings" provides a somewhat conventional plot pattern, where the character is confronted with a problem and is then led into a climax, which late leads to the resolution of the story (Meyer,65). The conventional plot is easy to follow and serves as a basis for movies and other forms of fictitious entertainment (Meyer,65). This simple, yet effective plot makes the story easier to follow and easier to understand. The plot in The Killings also includes usage of flashback as a tool for the audience to fully understand the backgrounds of the characters. This type of organization serves as a basis for the entire story and has the most significance in "The Killings". .

The Killings is a story about a man named Matt Fowler, whose son Frank is violently killed by his girlfriends ex-husband. The story goes on to explain the tale of how Matt copes with his feelings of revenge, which result in the killing of Richard Strout, Frank's killer. The story, written by Andre Dubus uses several key factors of plot in order to make the characters of Matt Fowler and Richard Strout appear to be more human. By focusing heavily on the plot the reader can easily grasp the humanity within both of the killers as well as sympathy for the victims.

Truly understanding the story relies on...

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...ork. The resolution of "The Killings", results in dissatisfaction for both the Fowlers and Strout. Strout of course ends up dead, while the Fowlers remain grief stricken. The unfortunate turn of events turned the, "vengeful satisfaction he suffered into a profound lifelong isolation (Kennedy ,97). As a result of the killing of Strout, Fowler faced even bigger dilemmas regarding his own peace of mind as well as the comfort of his family. The isolation given to Fowler in the resolution imposes an even greater physiological conflict than before, and results in Fowler's remaining children believing that Strout, had "skipped town", exonerating himself from his trial Technically, Fowler was victorious in the resolution, since his goal in the story was to eventually kill Strout, however the emotional difficulties present in the resolution allow the reader to think otherwise.

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